Started with a Speedway Scarab at age 12, then at age 13 bought a 1971 Honda SL70 with my paper route money and installed a "Powroll Big Bore Kit" which increased it from 72cc to 108cc. At age 15 bought a 1973 Yamaha 125 ATC Enduro with "Electric Start". Then bought a 1974 Honda CR125M Elsinore and raced a little Motocross. Then at age 16 bought one of my older brother's Honda MT125M Elsinore Enduro, six months later I bought a 1975 Yamaha DT250 Enduro. At age 17 bought a 1975 Yamaha DT400 Enduro. Chilled out for a couple years then bought and restored a friends crashed 1978 Honda CB750K with 1,900 miles on it. At age 20 bought a 1979 Honda CB750F Super Sport. At age 21 Bought a 1982 Suzuki GS1100E. Stopped riding for a few years after one of my closest friends crashed his Kawasaki 900 with one of my older brothers on back....my brother lived...our dear friend didn't. That whole thing bummed me out so bad I quit riding. After about 6 years not riding I finally bought my 1982 Harley Davidson FXR II in 1994. It was a total rat so I rode it for a season and then transformed it on 2 different occasions. Now it is on Craigslist in Milwaukee and just listed it on Ebay for a week, but the reserve was not met. Hopefully it will sell soon as the money will be spent on a deck boat for our new lake house. 2 years ago this June I bought a 2008 Honda XR650L just to re-live my enduro youth and I love that thing. The pictures I am posting are generic but are the exact colors and identical bikes I owned. Though I am posting the actual pictures of my Harley the day I bought it and then how it looks now....22 years later. The last picture, 2008 Honda XR650L is also my actual bike (that was the craigslist picture...no saddle bags anymore). I do have photos of a few of the other the bikes I mentioned but over the years they have degraded to the point where when I scanned them and went to post them they looked awful. Should mention I have 3 Honda XR80's, one is my youngest son's the other two I'm restoring for Pit Bikes. And my older son has a Honda XR200. Always had a thing for the 1981-1982 Honda CBX's too! Always loved the look and sound of it's "Inline 6-Cylinder" engine. Had a chance to buy a nice one last sping locally but fell asleep and lost it. If I find a nother super clean one fairly local, I gett'in it. Larry
Here are a few more; my 1976 Husky 360 Automatic in the front with (left to right) behind it: 1977 Hercules GS250 7 Speed, 1976 Honda MR175, 1972 Ossa 250 Pioneer and my 1973 Honda XL175... The Husky and the MR175 are gone now but I still have the XL175, the Herc & the Ossa.
WOW another husky auto owner on the board!! I got mine thinking if I let the bike do the shifting I would crash less. Didn't work. Having a faster bike just put me mid pack when I fell off instead of safely in last place where I belonged. Still have mine too but have not had it out of the barn in years. Have to look around for some more old pic.s.
I sold the Husky about 5 years ago. It has been fully restored and is in a private dirt bike collection in SC the last I heard. If you notice in my pictures, the tranny is out of it. These first-year Autos were notorious for short transmission life. And they were notorious for scaring the living crap out of you on a long down hill in the woods since they had no engine braking! Find some pictures of yours, I would like to see it. Here are some better pictures of my '77 Hercules GS250 (with my Honda XL175) and my Honda MR175:
I got started in the early 70's on a Sears Minibike with scrub brake. Then next was a Suzuki Trailhopper in green. I then moved up to this 72 Suzuki TC125. I got a chance to Ride John's Husqvarna 360 Automatic and it was a scary fast ride.
Haha me too. I think when I was 7 around 1968 when me and my two brothers got a Sears 3.5 HP minibike for Christmas. It was a big deal back then. We really thought we were cool :bglasses:. Then 3-4 years later I migrated to a Suzuki TC-90 almost same as the 125. I beat the crap out of that bike hill climbing the local slate dumps left from coal mining in the 40s and 50s. I was convinced it was impossible to blow up the engine! Really a tough bike
I remember as a kid there was always something about the lines on those Suzuki Dirt Bikes/Enduros that I liked, that was when Roger DeCoster used to race for them...... I never bought one though. Larry
Most of my buddies got the crap scared out of them on my 360. Everyone wanted to ride it when they saw the auto. i would say "The tranny is engaged. Just crank the throttle open and hang on." Then stand back and watch as the bike picked the front wheel in the air on the 1-2 shift and spit them off the back. When you let go of the throttle as you fell off it went back to idle and coasted 50 yards away all buy its self before falling over. remember we said no engine braking. I checked no pics of the husky. How bout one on US 129 the best road in the eastern states. Any other Dragon trash out there?
Don't have a motorcycle at this time, but here's some of those from my past. 1978 Yamaha XS11 I bought in winter of 79/80. These were taken on either March 8 or 9, 1980. That year, spring came early, stayed about a week, and we went direct into summer. If I recall correctly, 8 high temperature records were set during March 1980 alone! Bonus photo of my 64 Olds in the background. That car never moved from about April until September!! After selling that bike to a coworker who pestered me for months, I didn't replace it until 1985 with this Yamaha V-Max bought brand new. Scariest bike I ever rode. It could pull the wheel at any speed up to 60 mph if you weren't careful. After selling the V-Max in 1988, waited several years until this literally fell into my lap for $500.00!! Another Yamaha XS 11, this one a 1979. This one met it fate late one night when the road curved left, and I went straight. ou: ou: Had a choice of hitting an oak tree, or dropping it. Guess which one I chose. No more bikes for me now, too many idiots on the roads. :af:
I rode "The Tail of the Dragon" many times when I lived in SC. Always on one of the Harleys, so I didn't set any speed records... I still have one of my Dragon T-shirts around here somewhere.
I have 2 Harleys ... this rare 1985 FXEF, 4spd Evo with kickstart .... owned it since 1992 and have put 80,000 miles on it....I'm only the second owner......bought it in the UK and rode all over Britain and a lot of Europe on it......shipped it here when i returned Down Under in 2008 after 20+ years in the UK. At one point it had a rocker clutch and a jockey shift....for nine years....that was fun. Kickstart only. and this 1980 FXWG Shovelhead..... owned for 8 years with 27,000 miles up...was a cheap nail when I bought it, and now it is a reliable daily commuter for a 100-mile round-trip when the weather is nice.....and the demands of single parenthood mean I *can* take the bike to work LOL I've spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on it. Kickstart only. I like it that way. Keeps stuff simple.
72 Suzuki GT 750 . 3 cylinder , 2 stroke , Water cooled . First year of production . Known as Water Buffalo or Kettle whichever you prefer to call it . 73 Honda 500-4 cylinder
Here are a few of mine, the first is a 1977 Kawasaki KD 100 restored to original and on display in our living room The second is my 73 H2 750 that is almost finished being restored, all original with period performance mods, Denco chambers, ported, bigger carbs etc. The third one I just brought home and is currently for sale, 1975 H1 500, bought from original owner, stored for over 20 years, Rickman fairing, chambers. I also have 2 more h-2s, a 1978 Yamaha IT 400 enduro and a 2010 CRF 100.
Nice pair of bikes Lou. 70's Jap bikes are really starting to become sought after especially if in nice original condition so if anyone has one hang on to it, or if you know a neighbor that has one collecting dust and you can get cheap buy it. They are showing up more and more at the Antique Motorcycle Club of America (AMCA) meets. http://www.antiquemotorcycle.org/
Jason . The Suzuki GT 750 is a 6000 mile original. It was traded in on a new Honda and the dealer held on to it for a couple of years . Then they got into a legal dispute with Honda and closed the doors. After 25 years they settled and I bought the bike. Original Odometer statement require by PA and dated came with it. Honda is mine since 75 . Wife and I went to Nova Scotia on it in 77. I have to try and post some pictures of it then. Jason . I forgot to mention that the pictures were when I had hair.
Lots of memories for me when you guys talk about GT700s. My best friend had one back in the day and we had some great times on it. I had a CB 450 honda at the time. One of the two bikes I have sold. Will have to look far some old prints to scan. Did find this scan of my CL77. Keep em coming!
My newest ride......10,000 mile 2000 Buell M2 Cyclone in REACTOR Yellow. 1203 cc's of Harley torque ! Come on Spring Peace WildBill Damn photobucket.......
